Star Trek technology still influential after over 50 years

Universal Translator

It was over 50 years ago when the world first learned of the "treknology" that would be available in the 23rd century. But those 20th century Earthlings who first tuned into the "Star Trek" television series would certainly be amazed at how much science fiction is now science fact.

Quantum Supercomputer

The Enterprise had its supercomputer that played 3D chess with Mr. Spock. IBM's Q System One 20-qubit Quantum Computer is "designed to one day tackle problems that are currently seen as too complex and exponential in nature for classical systems to handle."

Directed Energy Weapons

On Star Trek, a phaser could stun life forms or kill and vaporize them, depending on the setting.

The Department of Defense (DoD), in collaboration with several universities and small companies, are developing a non-lethal laser weapon which can send voice commands or burn people's skin to repel targets over long distances.

Known as the Scalable Compact Ultra-short Pulse Laser Systems (SCUPLS), the technology could be employed on small tactical vehicles and other platforms to be used in situations such as crowd control, according to David Law, chief scientist from the DoD's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.

Tractor Beams

Star Trek had tractor beams that could move starships. All we've come up with, so far, are optical tweezers which are a highly beam of light capable of holding microscopic particles stable in three dimensions.

Sickbay

Sickbay on the Enterprise was filled with all kinds of medical wonders, including a medical diagnostic bed that has been the envy of today's medical professionals. SmartPlanet's Janet Fang writes about a £1 million (about $1.6m) medical suite at the University of Leicester in the UK that is used to diagnose hospital patients, sci-fi style.

"Dr. McCoy in Star Trek had a tricorder that he waved over the patients to help diagnose diseases," says Paul Monks, who helped develop the facility. "The stage we're at is the medical bed in the sci-fi series, which it tells you how well you are."

Remembering Stephen Hawking

Before his passing in March 2018, physicist and physical cosmologist Stephen Hawking was able to utilize technology inspired by Star Trek to battle a motor neuron disease that is related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gerhig's Disease. Although he had been unable to speak himself since 1985, he was able to communicate with a computer generated voice, work on a specially made computer and navigate on a motorized wheel chair.

Transporters

The brains at a place called the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland have already taken a step towards real teleportation. So far, they've only transferred a quantum state between two atoms one meter apart, and with an accuracy of only 90 percent. But, hey, it's a start.

Medical Tricorder

Here's a direct example of life imitating art. The DxtER, from Basil Leaf Laboratories, designed to resemble the Medical Tricorder diagnostic tool from Star Trek, can identify 34 illnesses, including diabetes, atrial fibrillation, and pneumonia, using a suite of Bluetooth sensors connected to a tablet.

LASIK

LASIK surgery using focused low-wattage lasers to correct vision is now well on its way to making eye glasses and contact lenses obsolete. In the Star Trek series, a woman was able to see with a gown of sensors, and in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Geordi La Forge had his sight restored.

The 20th century Earthlings who first tuned into the "Star Trek" television series in 1966 would certainly be amazed at how much science fiction is now science fact.

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Directed Energy Weapons

On Star Trek, a phaser could stun life forms or kill and vaporize them, depending on the setting.

The Department of Defense (DoD), in collaboration with several universities and small companies, are developing a non-lethal laser weapon which can send voice commands or burn people's skin to repel targets over long distances.

Known as the Scalable Compact Ultra-short Pulse Laser Systems (SCUPLS), the technology could be employed on small tactical vehicles and other platforms to be used in situations such as crowd control, according to David Law, chief scientist from the DoD's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.